1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for controlling a fault in a lighting network and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for controlling a fault in a lighting network, which use a daisy-chain network topology based on a Recommended Standard 485 (RS485) communication scheme.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the importance of the Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting industry has gradually increased. In the past, most operations for lighting were implemented merely by turning on and off a single lighting lamp using a single switch. However, recently, such a lighting scheme has developed into a centralized scheme in which a central control unit controls a plurality of lighting devices over a network.
In order to implement such a lighting network, various types of topological structures can be used. First, RS485 communication enables a topology to be configured in a bus manner and enables a plurality of devices to be simultaneously connected to the bus, so that one-to-many communication or many-to-many communication can be realized. Such a structure is widely used in lighting networks at the present time.
In detail, bus structures that can be implemented using an RS485 communication scheme include a tree bus structure, a star structure, or a daisy-chain bus structure.
First, the tree bus structure is characterized in that the current of signals can be weakened while data transmitted from a lighting control device is reaching a lighting device in a final stage, so that an effective range of 1.2 km of the RS485 communication scheme may not be guaranteed. Therefore, such a tree bus structure is useful for the control of a small number of lighting devices, but causes a problem in connecting and operating a plurality of lighting devices in conjunction with one another.
Next, the daisy-chain bus structure can be configured such that data transmitted from a lighting control apparatus disclosed in Korean Patent No. 100870733 (Date of registration: Nov. 20, 2008) entitled “Remote lighting control apparatus and method,” is connected to a neighboring lighting device, and that lighting device is connected to its neighboring lighting device, so that the individual lighting devices can be connected in series. Such a daisy-chain bus structure is advantageous in that the loss of current is low and the influence of noise is less, and in that the length of a cable can be reduced because the individual lighting devices are connected in series. However, such a daisy-chain bus structure is problematic in that when a fault occurs in a single lighting device, none of the lighting devices may be normally operated.